A new hybrid seed well-suited to Swaziland’s farming community has just been introduced into the country. The seed, MRI 514, is an early-maturing, drought-tolerant and has a potential yield of ten metric tons per hectare. Adoption of this variety could significantly increase the average smallholder’s yield, currently less than two metric tons per hectare. The launch of the seed into the Swazi market by Mbovane Marketing from Syngenta Zambia is evidence of the progress Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States have made harmonizing and modernizing their seed sectors. Lengthy seed trial processes have been replaced with a streamlined system to ensure quality seed can be introduced quickly for the benefit of farmers.
On August 12, 2015, the SHARE portal managed by the USAID-funded Building Local Capacity for Delivery of HIV Services in Southern Africa Project (BLC) was launched in Pretoria, South Africa. SHARE is a unique hub connecting people to resources, peers, organizations, and free collaboration and learning tools. Developed using open source technology, SHARE focuses on online communities and is capable of providing an unlimited number of users with access to free tools and indexed repositories of information and resources. Its responsive design enables users to access all SHARE features via desktop, tablet, and other mobile devices. Share facilitates knowledge exchange to help improve the response to HIV and AIDS in southern Africa and beyond.
Today’s event celebrated 12 months of cooperation between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Programme. The results of this collaboration are Regional Sanitary and Phytosanitary Strategies to ensure that consumers are being supplied with food products that are safe to eat, plants and animals are protected from plant pests and animal diseases and at the same time improving safe regional and international trade.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Southern Africa Trade Hub (SA Trade Hub), in partnership with the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) and the Department of Policy and Strategic Planning, recently conducted an investor roadmap audit in Lesotho
Leading apparel manufacturers and retail buyers, government officials, business associations, and diplomats gathered at the Embassy of the Republic of Botswana on April 29 for a reception on the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the upcoming pan-African apparel trade show, Source Africa, to be held in Cape Town June 9-11.
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